By the Light of the Moon
by Sweetie147
Summary: Finally, I've begun learning magic in Brooklyn House. And I get to spend time with my best friend, Nolan Georgeston-who I perhaps want as more than a best friend. But when a face from my past appears, what's a girl to do but set him and my "best friend" against each other in a duel of magic to see who's better? Time for another crazy quest to make my magic stronger than ever.
1. A Bad Dream

**DISCLAIMER: Still not Rick Riordan. (I can't wait for The House of Hades! It's out tomorrow! OMZ)**

* * *

I wake up back in my body, gasping. I've been having the same chaotic nightmare ever since my visit to Thoth. I had received 2 necklaces, one that would let Thoth come to me if I needed help, and another that would restore my memories and my magic. I'm wearing the ibis necklace right now. I strongly want to tear the charm off my neck, but Thoth said to always wear it, no matter what. Well, I think it's giving me nightmares!

I get out of bed and knock 4 times on the wall across from mine, telling Nolan I wanted to talk. I wait for a while, and 5 knocks come back. I take this as the signal to go onto my balcony.

"Hey, Skye? Same nightmare again?" Nolan gives me his cocky smile, and my fear of the nightmare melted into just a bad dream.

"Yeah, but there was something new this time." The new addition is what really makes me seize up in terror.

"Oh? What was it?"

"The moon was shining in its full glory, white and peaceful. The stars shone brightly, and there were no other lights. I was standing on a cliff, and behind me was a forest. Suddenly, the moon began turning bright red, and when the moon was completely covered, it disappeared, along with all the other stars. Shapes pressed up beside me, but I couldn't see them at all. Then these wild red eyes glare at me with hatred, inches in front of me. Then I woke up."

"Red…" Nolan muses. "You know, it's the colour of-"

"Chaos, yes, I know." I finish for him. "I know that. The moon disappearing must also be a sign of chaos. Chaos that blocks out all the light."

"You've gotta tell Sadie or Carter, or even better, both!"

"Yes, I know, and I will, but I'd like to dream it once more, to see if I missed out on any details. Then I'll tell them what I think it means."

"A wise plan, thought out by one of the cleverest."

I blush, and I hope he doesn't notice in the rising light of the sun. "Well, if that's all, then good…dawn, Nolan."

"Good dawn!" Nolan once again bows, and I can't help but burst into a fit of the giggles.

"You really don't have to bow!" I manage to say between the giggles.

"Of course I do, Skye! It's my special act to crack the sad or frowny up!"

"You know, you really are infuriating and ridiculous at the same time." I take this as the time to leave. "See you later?"

"For sure!" Still laughing, Nolan retreats into his room.

I shake my head in despair. He'd be a great actor if he wasn't a magician.

* * *

After breakfast, I go to the library for my daily lessons with Cleo on the research portion of Thoth's Path.

"There's really not much more I can teach you. You've handled all the basics superbly, and I'm not really an expert on hieroglyph bombs and such things. I'm better at reading hieroglyphs from a papyrus scroll."

"I'm guessing hieroglyph bombs are literally just that?" I suspect that I will be really good at these.

"Exactly. A hieroglyph is encased in the colour and power of your magic and can be tossed at enemies." Cleo smiles. "Ask Carter. He claims Thoth is a master at these things, and made a demon have intestinal problems once."

"Poor demon," I burst out laughing.

Cleo continues, "And because you're really powerful and all that jazz, they should be easy. I also think that you can understand and read all the languages in the world."

"That would be amazing! Then all those 'dead' languages might not be dead after all!"

"And you might even be immortal!" Cleo smiles again, tears trickling out of her eyes. "Think of all the knowledge you'd keep save forever!"

"Well thank you for teaching me all that research stuff, Cleo." I said before she can get too emotional.

"You're very welcome." She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.

I leave the library, and head to Carter's room. I knock on the door, but he doesn't answer. I can hear sounds inside, however.

"Carter! Cleo told me that you've seen Thoth make hieroglyph bombs!" I shout. Back at camp, I'm well known for my intelligence, and my temper. "If you don't answer, I'll break down the door with my _khopesh_!"

"Holy Horus, Skye! Calm down. I'll open the door in a moment." I hear more shuffling and cursing inside and the door springs open.

"Um, hello." Carter is an absolute disgrace.

"Hello to you, too." I reply stormily. When I wanted help at Camp Half-Blood, they'd all give it to me real fast. "Cleo told me you've seen Thoth create hieroglyph bombs. Is it true?"

"Yes. Why'd you need to know?" Carter got shifty eyes, and I sigh, exasperated.

"Well, since Thoth is my father, I thought I should know how to cast them."

"Go research it," Carter grumbles. "I have stuff to do."

"Don't you be a lazy bum, Carter Kane. Tell me what you know," I order in my best commanding voice. "Or else I'll seriously break down your door with my _khopesh_."

"Ok, Ellison. I'll tell you. I've seen him do it during a battle last year, and it looked intense."

"How did he make them, though?"

"How would I know? Do I look like someone who knows this stuff?" Carter protested with his hands up. "I suppose he created them by sheer force of the mind, if you know what I mean. You probably can too, being the closest person we have to a goddess in Brooklyn House."

I smile as innocently and as sweetly as possible. "Thank you_ very_ much for your help." I head out of the room backwards, still grinning like a ghoul.

* * *

**To answer Ishita's question, Skye is approximately a 50/50 split. When she is on Greek/Roman territory (Camp Half-Blood/Jupiter, Greece, Rome), her Egyptian powers are greatly diminished. And vice versa. But when she's wearing her ibis amulet, everything of her Greek goddess side is wiped out. (Yes, including most of her ADHD, but not her brains and battle tactics, thankfully.)  
*Note: This is what I think is the case. Rick Riordan would actually know, as this is his world.***


	2. Hieroglyph Bombs

**DISCLAIMER: Not Rick Riordan. I only own the plot line and OCs**  
**(Eep! The House of Hades is out! :O A girl on my bus had it on the 9th, and I was like "Give to me!")**

* * *

I head to my room to try making a hieroglyph bomb. I close the door to my room so no one is alarmed by screams of frustration, smoke, and loud bangs.

I first summon a hieroglyph to my palm. "_Ha-di_," I mutter, subduing the powerful glyph so I don't explode the House. The hieroglyphs for 'Destroy' float just above my palm. I try to encase it with my blue energy, but nothing comes. I take a deep breath, and try again, but receive the same results as the previous time.  
_  
Don't scream, don't scream_, I tell myself as I try a third time. When it doesn't work, I scream and throw the hieroglyph at my closed door. The door shatters into a million pieces, startling anyone who was walking by at the time of the explosion.

I stomp my way over to the rubble and burnt-out pieces of door that remain. Oops. I'm just about to scream again when Nolan comes over to investigate.

"Gods of Egypt, what is going on, Skye?" Nolan stumbles into my room, tripping over broken pieces of door and coughing from the smoke and ash.

"Um…" I don't know where to begin. Should I tell him that I tried to make a hieroglyph bomb and failed, and then I wrecked the door?

"You used a _ha-di_ on your door, Skye. What did you do?"

"I was trying to create a hieroglyph bomb," I decide to admit the truth, however embarrassing.

"You know, you could have just told me so in the first place," Nolan chides gently. "Because lucky for you, I happen to be a master of sorts at hieroglyph bombs."  
Just my luck. I blow down my door and the boy next door has the answer.

"Can you teach me how?" I ask politely.

"If you clean up this mess, first," he gestures to the rubble and dust, and fans his face to get his point across.

I roll my eyes, and say, "Very well." Gathering my magical energy, I speak the words for join. "Hi-nehm." The door fixes itself, a tinge of my silver magic sealing the pieces, and hinges back on to the doorframe, too.

Nolan sits down on my bed and crosses his legs. "First off, hieroglyph bombs require a great concentration of energy. Second, gods can create multiple at a time, while I can create one, and one only every hour."

"So it's all about focusing your energy to a certain place and letting it loose?" That seems too easy. Why hadn't I thought of it in the first place?

"Exactly. Now you can try. Simply hold out your hand, and imagine your magical energy flow through your arm and out to your palm. Then you can place a hieroglyph of your choice inside the sphere."

And so I do. Stretching out my hand once more, I focus my energy to flow out of my open palm. It's all too easy. I don't feel any less tired when I succeed. Even when I summon the hieroglyph for 'Be at Peace', I don't feel anything draining energy away. "I don't feel tired." I fake-complain to Nolan. "Must be 'cause I'm almost a goddess."

"Then count yourself really lucky. You can probably create multiple bombs without getting tired." Nolan then looked at the silvery energy bomb floating just above my hand. His almost goofy expression changes to that as if a close family member had died. "Miss Ellison," he begins gravely. "Put that infernal device of destruction away."

"But it's only a 'Ha-tep'…" The look on his face made me say, "Ah, alright." I let the energy dissipate.

Nolan cracks up laughing. "I knew you'd fall for that one!"

"You infuriating jerk!" I gasp in mock-anger, and I throw my headrest at him. Luckily, it isn't as heavy as it seems. I do inflict rather major injuries upon his person, though.

"What in the name of Set was that for?" Nolan rubs at his shoulder, grimacing in pain.

Oh my gods. I must have really hurt him. "Are you okay?" I place my hand over his shoulder, and heal him.

"You're amazing, Skye. You know that?" Nolan says as he flexed his shoulder muscles to test them.

I blush a bright red, and before I can reply, an loudspeaker from an unknown source comes on.

"Attention all initiates. Please some to the Great Hall immediately. All initiates," Sadie's voice says rather loudly. I hear a slight click as the loudspeaker turns off.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know," Nolan shrugs. "But it must be important. This has happened only one other time since I joined Brooklyn House. There must be something big going on."

* * *

**This chapter is short, but it is pretty important. I'm really sorry for the really late update, and for making all fellow fangirls (and guys) wait.  
I've been reading way too much fanfiction... lol.**  
**I will post the next few chapters up simultaneously, but the wait will be longer!**


	3. My Worst Enemy

**OMG, I finished the House of Hades, and I felt like crying. (I didn't, as I don't usually cry while reading books, but still...) That book ruined my life...in a fangirl sense. Fellow bookworms, you know what I'm talking about. That's one of the reasons this update is so late.**

**The other is I'm really busy on a novel study (The Hobbit, in case you're wondering) and didn't really have time to write last week. I had this chapter all ready, and then I realized the due date was a week and a half from the day I finished this chapter. Oh, silly me. So, here it is!**

* * *

Everyone flows in the corridors as one down the stairs, and I could have cut through the tension with a knife. I hear many mutterings of "What's happening?" and "What is Sadie up to now? Perhaps she's off her rocker."

Me and Nolan say nothing, but follow the crowd. All the initiates gather in the Great Hall. Unfortunately, we are stuck at the back, and while Nolan can scan his eyes over the crowd with no problem, I cannot. Being only five feet and six inches, my height is sadly below many of the other initiates heads. I'm left to resort to jumping up and down in an attempt to see above the heads of 3 six feet tall guys in front of me.

"Need help, Ellison?" Nolan smirks.

"I don't need your help," I snarl back. "It isn't polite to make fun."

"Too bad, I'm helping you whether you like it or not." Nolan wraps an arm around my waist, reminding my eerily of the school dance that happened two weeks ago. He lifts me up quite easily.

I squeal, "Put me down, Georgeston!" This attracts the unwanted attention of many, including the boy standing beside Sadie and Carter. I stare at him, and I feel icy prickles all over my back. It's _him._ Oh, fudge. How in the world did he find me? Percy, Annabeth and Chiron couldn't have given away where I went. They don't even _know_ where I went!

I scramble to get out of Nolan's arms. "Seriously, Nolan. Let me go." I say in my deadliest voice I can muster.

"Whoa, Skye! What's wrong?"

I twist out of his arms and land on the floor. I don't offer an explanation as I push through the knot of people on the staircase and ignore their sneers and rather rude remarks. When I finally manage to disentangle myself from the initiates, I run as fast as I can to the third floor, open my door, lock it, and throw myself onto the plush bed, letting the tears finally come. They trickle out of my right eye slowly, and hit the mattress, creating a splotch. I don't care. I let out a moan, and start sobbing my heart out.

I listen to myself cry, hating each moment of it. I try to be strong, but I always crumble in the end.

"Skye? Gods of Egypt, what happened back there?" It's Nolan's voice, muffled by the locked door and my almost hysterical sobs. I don't bother to reply, but a murmured incantation-"Sahad," which means unlock- unlocks my door and Nolan strides in.

By Zeus, I bet I look awful. I spare a glance at him, and almost throw myself into his arms. He staggers back slightly, but half-drags me over to my bed and begins stroking my hair reassuringly. "It's okay; you don't have to tell me right now. Just let it all out."

Which I do. He holds my gently but firmly, and I bury my face into his shoulder and cry. I only wish this was in different circumstances. I'd prefer to have him holding me when we're both happy, not when he's comforting me and I'm blubbering like a fool into his shirt.

When I stop crying, he asks softly, "Are you ready to tell me?"

I sniff, and say, "Yes, I'll tell you. The boy who was standing beside Sadie-he's a son of Ares, and his name is Nicholas Topmann."

"Hold up," Nolan frowns. "How is Ares like, in real life?"

"He's arrogant, a jerk, rude, brutal, and prefers brawn over brains."

"Well, he sounds like a lovely person," Nolan chokes. "At least Horus isn't that bad. He can be an arrogant jerk, but he prefers to think things through before executing the plan, not charging in blindly knowing he'll win."

"I don't know how he got here, because Annabeth and Percy didn't know where I was going."

"And why do you hate him so much?"

"He tried to kiss me!" I scream, losing all control. "Without permission, of course!" I pound my hands into the bed. Sorry, bed.

Nolan's expression hardens. "No wonder you hate him so much. I would, too."

"I still remember," I whisper. "The Athena, Ares and Hephaestus cabins had just won a game of Capture-the-Flag. We were all celebrating, and he came up and said my plan was awesome. He leaned forward, but I pushed him across the walkway before he could kiss me. Come to think of it, I sent him flying with a light palm shove. Looking back on it, I think it was my Egyptian influence."

Nolan nods. "That totally makes sense. Thoth is not only a speaker of the words of power. He is very potent at combat magic, as well. Now," he cracks his knuckles. "Do you want me to punch him for you?"

"What?" I ask, startled. "No! Please don't. He is seriously strong."

"Stronger than me?" Nolan fake-pouts. "Come on, Skye! You're serious?"

"Without your magic, then yes, he is stronger. I've seen him fight before. He combines his father's strength with human rational thinking. He's a war machine all on his own. Most children of Ares only use strength, but he uses brains and brawn. Very deadly. I don't want you getting hurt."

Oh, great. I think I've said too much. Before he can reply, there's a knock on the door. More like a bang on the door. Or, multiple bangs.

"Skye?" It's Sadie. I am so glad Nolan locked it before. Knowing her, she probably would have barged in without knocking if the door wasn't locked! "Someone wants to see you!"

"Oh, man," Nolan mutters. "This is bad."

Bad? Ha. I snort. Bad doesn't even begin to describe it. What's a girl to do but hide?

"Skye?" Sadie pounds on the door again. "Are you in there? 'Cause this boy really wants to see you. I think he knows you from that camp of demigods!"

"Um, I'm really busy!" I call back, hiding my nervousness. "I have to finish translating this spell!" That is true. There is one spell I haven't finished translating.

"You can do it later," Sadie hasn't tried using magic, yet. I'm sure she'll realize it sooner or later.

"Please? I promise I'll see him after I finish the translation." I never say when I'll finish, though.

"Very well, come out when you're done." Sadie sighs, I and feel her stomping footsteps disappear.

"That was close," I say breathlessly and collapse onto my fluffy queen-sized bed. Close doesn't even describe it.

"Indeed it was, Skye. You managed to outwit her using nothing but the truth. Very impressive. Of course, I expect nothing less from a daughter of Athena." Nolan's teasing, I guess, but when I look into his deep blue eyes the colour of the twilight sky, I see a hint of pride? Bemusement? Or some emotion much deeper than either?

_Oh, don't get your hopes up, Ellison. He doesn't like you that way. _Am I right, or wrong? Argh, why are demigod/magicians' lives so crazy?


End file.
